Spencer Anderson has regained his position as President, after a tense series of elections. The first round saw Anderson - for the first time endorsed by the Democratic Freedom Movement at this stage - top the poll with under 30%. He then went on to beat the National Party's Marcus Linton (from the left wing of the party) by a narrow margin of only 2%. Linton himself had been only marginally ahead of the incumbent, Giovanni de Luca in the first round. The outgoing Leftist President had been endorsed by Linton in 2734. Antonio Hall of the Urban Party came fourth, and was not far behind the battle for second place. The Free Socialist Group also put up a candidate, but Matt Finnish did not have much time to pick up support. He did, however, do better than the party did in other elections, suggesting that there is more that the party can do to pick up votes, if they continue to put forward their positions effectively.

Assembly

The government, who had been in a minority for much of the last session, have regained control with a large majority. The National Party and the Urban Party both made gains, while the Free Market Coalition parties saw a net loss. The Leftist Coalition lost heavily, and within the National Party, the left wing did poorly compared to the Orangeist tendency.

The political editor of the Kirlawa Chronicle includes the following information in a review of politics in Kirlawa, this month focusing on the Orangists.

Support –

Commentators often wonder as to whether the Orangists are a Protestant Party, following the doctrines of the reformed faith, or whether they are simply a Party for Protestants, somewhere for members of reformed churches to come together and effect policy in non-religious areas. However what is clear is that support for the Orange movement is firmly concentrated amongst Kirlawans who describe themselves as Protestant, particularly those of Northern Artanian heritage. Dirlana is the only region in which significant numbers of non-Protestants have offered electoral support to the Orangists. Orangists also tend to be conservative, and are also predominately located in rural areas and small towns. Indeed, inside the larger cities the movement is often absent, except where they can exploit anti-immigrant sentiment. Generally it is often believed that Orangists have abandoned urban areas to their leftist allies in the Kirlawan National Party, although there are enough Orangist urban politicians to suggest that this is entirely true.

Uwakah –

Last five elections average – 4.2%

The most northerly province has been an electoral desert for the Orangist movement. The highest share of the vote it has managed to achieve here is slightly under 7%, and the party has struggled to maintain any consistent level of representation in the provincial assembly. However in recent years the party has proposed various environmentally friendly bills in an effort to break into this province and tap into a new source of electoral support.

Dirguzia –

Last five elections average – 21.79%

In the last five elections the Orangists have secured between 21.42% and 21.90% of the vote. This level of consistency has provided a strong base for Orangists in national and provincial elections. However it also serves to demonstrate that Orangist support in Dirguzia is almost entirely concentrated amongst the Protestant community, regardless of the direction of the national party, or attempts to follow populist views in the region.

Nuchtmark –

Last five elections average – 19.74%

Nuchtmark is considered the most conservative of the Kirlawan regions, and it is no surprise that the Orangists have enjoyed around a fifth of the vote here. Indeed, between 2726 and 2730 the governor of the region was William DeLacey, an important figure in the early years of the Block, and who remains a leader of Orangists within the provincial assembly. However in the last three elections Orangist support in the region has been significantly reduced, as the movement falls back on its core Protestant base.

Dirlana –

Last five elections average – 28.78%

Dirlana has emerged as something of a stronghold for the Orangists and their supporters. In each election since their foundation they have taken over a quarter of the vote, edging towards almost a third in 2737. This degree of support has ensured that the governor has been an Orangist since 2726, and most recently Iain Jakobs has been elected Governor, with a provincial assembly in which over half of its members are also Orangists.

Orangism in this province has traditionally been associated with anti-immigrant sentiment, its is perhaps the only province in which support from non-protestant groups has been significant enough to ensure that the local party remains free from religious extremism that has permeated the party in other regions. Catholics and atheists have been known to be elected as Orangists in this province, although this doesn’t make the party more tolerant, it simply that the largely protestant membership have been willing to embrace others who are intolerant of mass immigration.

Merkan –

Last five elections average – 15.22%

Merkan has been an odd region for Orangists. Due to the nature of the ethnic split in the region, about half the population are Dundorfian speakers, with the other half largely being English speakers, immigration from outside Artania not being so common here. Thus the Orangists have had to tread a precarious path between giving into their anti-Dundorfian Kirlawan nationalist streak, or embracing the large Calvinist Dundorfian rural population that would provide a natural base to the Protestant Orangist movement.

Election results demonstrate the switch between successfully balancing these two constituencies, as shown in 2722, 2727 and 2730, when the party took almost a quarter of the vote with large support from Dundorfian speakers. The alternative is shown in the elections of 2726, 2734 and 2737, when the party collapsed to a base support of 10%.

At a local level the Orangists operate two political parties who compete within the two linguistic communities. The Protestantische Partei, led by Herzog Stich stands in constituencies that are largely Dundorfian in composition, and the PP sends two members to the national assembly under the Orangist banner, whilst the Merkan Orange Party stands in English speaking constituencies, and currently returns the majority of elected Orangists from Merkan

The Leftist Coalition lost heavily across Kirlawa, as the National Party gained prominent positions in all regions. The Free Market Coalition made gains to take leads at a regional level, but the Urban Party lost ground. Full results are at http://classic.particracy.net/viewnews. ... sid=211842

Presidency

Spencer Anderson stood down, and his nominated successor from the Austrian Party, Basilia Heinlein, maintained the winning form of the Free Market Coalition. Heinlein beat Marcus Linton of the National Party in a knife-edge second ballot, with less than half a million votes separating the two. The previous holder and Leftist candidate, Giovanni de Luca, failed to get past the first round, coming in third. Bill White of the Urban Party was fourth.

Assembly

The Popular Front lost over a third of their seats to fall to sixth place, while the National Party grew to within a seat of the level needed to block any Constitutional changes. The FMC parties both made gains, while the Urban Party lost ground from the centre.

Basilia Heinlein of the Austrian Party failed in her bid to retain the presidency, losing in the run-off to the People's Justice Party's Giovanni de Luca. de Luca won by a near 8% margin to take the position he held from Feb 34 to Aug 37, despite Heinlein having topped the poll in the first round. In that first round, Marcus Linton of the National Party came third and the Urban Party's Victoria Bennett-Cruz was in fourth place.

Assembly

The National Party lost nearly fifty seats - all from the Orangist camp - and most of their losses went to the Leftist Coalition Parties, with the PJP the main winners. The FMC parties and the UPK did not move much

The LC have retaken the governorships in Uwakah and Merkan, and now each Chief Executive at that level comes from a different party. Rather than simply reflecting national trends, it's clear that each province is developing its own distinct political climate.

In a reversal of last time's results, the Orangists lost all of their gains and the PJP doubled their seat total to take a strong majority.

KPJP 74 (+39)KPF 1 (-2)LC Total - 75

DFM: 18 (-7)KAP: 2 (nc)FMC Total - 20

KNP: 5 (-30) [Orangeists: 4, Leftists: 1]

UPK: 0 (-13)

Dirguzia

The UPK have a true majority now, as they and the KPF made gains. The Orangists lost over a third of their seats.

UPK: 54 (+4)

KPF 26 (+4)KPJP 3 (nc)LC Total - 29

KNP: 14 (-6) [Orangeists: 11, Leftists: 3]

DFM: 2 (-1)KAP: 1 (-1)FMC Total - 3

Nutchmark

The Austrians made further gains, as did their DFM allies, to give the FMC a majority. The UPK and KNP both took losses, with the LC parties regaining some lost ground.

KAP: 44 (+9)DFM: 10 (+5)FMC Total - 54

KNP: 26 (-13) [Leftists: 22, Orangeists: 4]

KPJP 11 (+4)KPF 5 (+3)LC Total - 16

UPK: 4 (-9)

Dirlana

Very few seats changed hands, and the Orangists bucked the national trend against them to stay in power with a large majority. The UPK won back the seat they lost last time.

KNP: 64 (-1) [Orangeists: 59, Leftists: 5]

DFM: 14 (+2)KAP: 6 (-2)FMC Total - 20

KPJP 9 (nc)KPF 6 (nc)LC Total - 15

UPK: 1 (+1)

Merkan

The LC parties took seats from the UPK and the KAP, but the Free Market Coalition Parties remain the largest block. In a tightly contested Assembly, the change of Governor from the KAP to the KPF could prove important.

OOC: Since this is an inconvenient time of week for KPF to do the election results, KPJP are happy to fill in, until we can get the elections reset to a more suitable schedule.

Election Results June 2746

KNP(L) merge into KPJP

An early election was called in 2746, with the dissolution of the Leftist wing of the Kirlawan National Party.For years their platform and that of the Kirlawan People's Justice Party had been drifting ever closer: both parties offered an overall populist stance, combining fiscal leftism with social conservatism, nationalism, and isolationism. Calls to merge the two had been heard both from some of their supporters, and also from outside commentators who had had increasing trouble telling apart the candidates of the two very similar parties. These were answered in 2746, when the KNP(L) announced that they would cease participation in Kirlawan politics, whereupon most of their members (except in the Orangeist stronghold of Dirlana) quickly transferred to the KPJP.

The Leftists' departure left the KNP without a candidate for the Presidency, as their remaining wing, the Orangeists, did not field one.Incumbent President Giovanni de Luca of the KPJP (also endorsed by the Kirlawan Popular Front) and former President Basilia Heinlein of the Kirlawan Austrian Party (also endorsed by the Democratic Freedom Movement) met for the third time. Unlike in the previous election, de Luca led after the first round, yet won the second round by a smaller margin than before.Richard Ford, a new candidate from the Urban Party of Kirlawa, placed third.

General Assembly

As expected, most KNP(L) voters switched to the KPJP (boosting the fuchsia-cerise to their best result in a generation, since the election of 2719), and some returned to the Orangeist wing, with a few dispersing to each of Kirlawa's other parties.

The largest KNP(L) contingent had been in Nuchtmark. Their gain by the KPJP not only has sent the Leftist Coalition into the lead here by one seat, but also has conferred the governorship, with Padraig Greene of the well-known Greene family returning to his old office.

With the rightward trend in Kirlawan politics continuing, the Popular Front have been rocked by internal wrangling in the past year. The party had been hoping to gain more votes from the end of the Leftist wing of the National Party, but saw more going to the People's Justice Party. At the same time, socialist activists have been frustrated that the party has been unable to stop the process of economic liberalisation, while the more libertarian wing has voiced dissatisfaction that the party is not as anti-state as the Austrians. Dundorfian separatists have threatened to leave the party as nothing has been said about a move towards union with Dundorf or greater autonomy for Merkan for several years.

The leadership committee, which has been largely made up of moderates, is facing a challenge between all sides in the upcoming conference elections, and a more polarised party may be facing the next few years. The slide in the party's fortunes in the previous few decades has also had a long term effect on finances, as membership has halved since 2732 and some of the more centrist unions have left to affiliate to the PJP.

Republic News (RN): On February 10, the Urban Party of Kirlawa officially selected Richard Ford to replace unpopular leader Jean-Michael Ovendorf. Ford was the party's leader in the General Assembly and a former presidential candidate.

Republic News (RN): At 5:13 am on April 21, 2745, TransAir flight 341 headed for Brase Lake, crashed in Salubris killing 178 people (all 115 passangers, 63 on the ground) and injuring more than 300. The plane apparently experienced engine problems and went down in the outside of the city limits into the suburb of Umara. The plane reportedly clipped several buildings including the Double Oak Hotel before coming to a rest in a neighborhood. So far the investigators have ruled out terrorism and narrowed it down to fatigue and engine failure. The CEO of TransAir has yet to make a statement on the plane crash, but has promised a full investigation into what went wrong.